Without A Past
by nyxlily
Summary: On hiatus. Due to waning interest in SG1, for which I blame the ridiculous 6 months hiatus from SCIFI, I found a new obsession: Supernatural. I will always love this show, and will revisit this story at a later time. Please accept my sincere apologies.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** My first attempt at a fic with a serious undertone. All reviews welcome! There will be no shippiness here. This is a Jack/Daniel _friendship _with _team_. I don't understand why 4/5th of the fics out there seem to contain romance. It just seem odd to me. That's just me, of course.

_Huge huge_ thank you to Lennie for the editing! Also a thank you to everyone who reviewed and got me to look for a beta! Or two or three. I didn't think this story would generate enough interest to warrant beta-ing!

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"How can you be sure that Dr. Jackson won't cooperate?" the man in the dark suit asked. A casual observer might pin the man sitting behind the spotless desk as a high level executive: the way he dressed, the way he held himself, with a voice well used to giving commands and leaving no doubt that he'd be obeyed.

"Sir, you must have a pretty good idea what the SG teams are like. Especially SG-1, given their heavy involvement with us..." the man opposite him replied. "I have seen the condition they were in after their return from certain missions. I'm convinced no method, however _persuasive_, could turn Jackson to our cause."

The man behind the desk leaned forward. "I have ways. I just need certain information to help carry it out."

The anonymous informant nodded. "You'll have it."

He eyed his subordinate as he leaned back in his chair and said, "You have been invaluable to our organization. Your loyalty in helping us protect Earth is truly appreciated."

The informant actually gave a short laugh. "You and I both know my participation has nothing to do with loyalties or the protection of this planet, though I don't mind having an advantage against those alien bastards. I'm in it because I'm paid well. Sir."

The suited man smiled a genuine smile. It was rare to find an honest man nowadays.

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Daniel and Jack's eyes were locked. Strategies played out and dismissed in their minds in rapid succession. Each believing his move would gain the upper hand and neither would back down. Teal'c and Sam looked on, both wanting to weigh in but knew it would not be welcomed. By either of them.

Jack made his move, with Daniel already analyzing the next step before Jack had set the piece down. "Ha." Jack grinned.

Daniel frowned. That was good. Very good. He looked up at Jack with suspicion but left it unvoiced.

Sam smiled at the game's progression then turned her attention to Teal'c. "So, what are you going to do for the next five days?"

Teal'c's usually stoic face broke into a small, warm smile. "I have plans to visit with my son and rendezvous with Master Bra'tac to discuss past campaigns and battles that could be of benefit to us."

"So you're going to catch up with the man and rehash old war stories?" Jack asked with something closely resembling a smirk.

Teal'c's smile never quite vanished, more like it was suppressed. He gave a slight nod in Jack's direction and didn't correct the colonel's assessment.

Sam nodded, though her original thought of what Teal'c meant was more along the lines of finding battle tactics that could help with the fight against the Goa'uld. The colonel really had a gift for breaking things down into their simplest terms.

Daniel made his move on the chessboard before turning to Sam to ask for her plans.

"My dad and I are going to visit Mark and his kids. It's so rare for us to find time where we're both free." A note of regret colored her cheerful words.

Daniel nodded in sympathy. A picture of Sha're inevitably flashed through his mind at the mention of family. It felt like a lifetime ago since he last saw her. It was a different lifetime when they shared their first and only year together. He had changed much since then.

"Daniel," Jack's voice broke through Daniel's reverie. He glanced up from the chessboard to see the colonel's slightly annoyed look directed at him. "It's your turn."

Daniel smile apologetically and carelessly moved one of his pieces with no thought to his current strategy. It wasn't only he who had changed; the rest of his team only saw a preoccupied Daniel, perhaps concentrating too deeply on the game or thinking of the work left undone. Three years ago they might have picked up the subtle signs of his distress. Two years ago they wouldn't have left him alone until they figured out what was wrong. His team had drifted apart from him and he didn't know how or why.

A noise from Jack brought him back to the present. The other man was grinning madly as he casually broke through Daniel's carefully placed line of defense. Daniel said ruefully, "Good move, Jack."

Jack definitely smirked this time and said graciously, "Why, thank you, Daniel."

Daniel ducked his head to stare intently at the game. The banter was still there, and he could still feel the camaraderie, but his relationship with SG-1 has changed; it just made it easier to pretend that everything was the way it was.

"So, what about you, sir?" Sam asked, while they waited for Daniel to salvage what he could of his defense.

"It's been predicted that it'll be warm and sunny for the next week, Carter. What do you think?"

Teal'c sighed. Or, as it sounded to the others, something comparable to a disapproving bear. "Fishing," he stated with distaste.

Sam actually snickered while Jack frowned in his friend's direction. "Something wrong with fishing?"

"My experience with the... sport... leaves much to be desired." Teal'c gave a slight inflection to 'sport' as if questioning the choice of word used to describe such an activity.

"No appreciation whatsoever. I thought if anyone would understand, it'd be you, T!" Jack shook his head as he turned away in dismissal "Daniel, before my whole head turns gray."

Daniel raised his eyes at that and couldn't help sliding a look to Sam, who choked back a laugh. "Sorry, Jack, I think you've got me. You'll have me in checkmate within six moves."

The older man looked surprised. "Really?" He stared at the game for a long silent moment. "Huh."

"You're not going to make me show you, are you, Jack?" Daniel asked.

"Could you?"

Daniel rolled his eyes.

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The man in the suit was talking to a woman this time, and not at his office. They seemed to be in a lab, glass and stainless steel, all being lit by harsh florescent lights.

"Mr. Amery, listen to me. The prototype is nowhere near ready to be tested, let alone expectations of it actually working! You have to give my team more time."

"Unfortunately, Doctor, time is what we don't have. This is the only way we'll ever obtain his help. I know for a fact that it worked on all of SG-1 before, so there should be no reason why it wouldn't work again."

The woman glared at him coldly. "It worked, for a while. They later regained their memories on their own. Teal'c himself needed multiple treatments for it to take effect for even a short time. It was apparent that their machines are not compatible with human physiology."

"That is the reason why you and your team were assigned to this project! You've had over a year to make it work and this is all you have to show for it?" he asked in a low, dangerous voice.

The woman made no move to back down. "We've had to reprogram it each time we experiment with a new alien device, hoping to cobble together something that would work to your specific parameters. It is a time consuming process involving many trials and errors. The recent breakthrough with the Tok'ra memory device was pure luck; the technology behind each device are so vastly different we were surprised that they could work in conjunction with one another in the first place."

"You're boring me with your excuses. I need it to work within four days."

"Four days!" The scientist could only gape in disbelieve.

"That is when our window of opportunity closes. You have your orders, Doctor." He turned his back and left without another word.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Minusculespoilers for two episodes: one in season 3 and one in 4 in this chapter. Just in case for the new people who got hooked onto SG1!

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SG-1 said their goodbyes to Teal'c as he walked up the ramp to the 'gate. A parting quip from Jack asking for a souvenir had his human colleagues rolling their eyes while Teal'c just nodded solemnly. After seeing Teal'c off, Jack and Daniel offered to wait with Sam for Jacob, but she could see the colonel was eager to be out of the mountain.

"It's okay, sir, he'll probably still be here when you get back from your trip," Sam said.

Jack grinned. "Excellent! Tell him hi for me, wish I could be here, and so on. Have a good time, Carter. Daniel."

"Thank you, sir."

"Jack, are you bringing your cellphone this time?" Daniel asked, but Jack was already halfway down the hall.

The remaining members of SG-1 looked at each other and shrugged.

"I'll see you later, Sam. Say hi to Jacob for me, too."

"Will do. Take care of yourself, Daniel."

He smiled. "You too, Sam."

His plans for the week were much like Jack's, in that it would be in pursuit of something well loved. While Jack spent his time at his bug infested lake, Daniel would be sifting through hundreds of books and thousands of pages for any pertinent information that would aid in his research.

The support of the military was exceptionally helpful in securing the full use of this prominent library, that reputedly had the most exhaustive collection of ancient texts and cultures available. Without the SG project's backing he doubted he'd have been given such unrestrained access to their materials.

Of course, beside telling General Hammond -who had helped him secure the funding and, more importantly, the support of certain individuals, whose help granted him the full use of the library's research facilities- he had only made vague references to his friends about how he planned to spend his downtime. Jack would have been furious if he found out he was doing anything remotely work related. Sam would be more sympathetic but no less critical on the use of his days off.

Daniel's mood continually brightened at thoughts of days spent in uninterrupted research, only a few hours away.

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Sam was pleased to hear from Daniel a few days later. He sounded tired, but extremely excited. She could hear the childlike delight in his voice as he described the treasure -his word- he discovered among the dusty tombs.

"Daniel, you were supposed to take it easy," Sam admonished.

"I did! Anyway, I just wanted to see how you're doing."

Sam grinned, "Just wonderful." She glanced behind her shoulder to see the kids and Jacob tackling the puzzle with such serious expressions on their faces that she couldn't help but laugh.

"It's good to hear you laugh, Sam," Daniel said softly.

"Daniel." She knew the work was hard on all of them, but to hear Daniel say it.

"Sam, I've gotta go."

"Don't tell me you have more work to do!" She looked at her watch, noting how late it was. The past few days passed by fast; they were heading back to Colorado Springs tomorrow. She assumed Daniel would be doing the same as they had a scheduled briefing early the day after.

"No, just meeting a few colleagues for dinner. They insisted since I'm leaving tomorrow. Apparently they enjoyed working with me."

"Don't sound so surprised," Sam said.

"Well, you would be if Jack's anything to go by," Daniel said.

"What?" Sam asked in surprise.

"Sam, they're here. I'll talk to you later." She frowned at the phone after hearing the click signifying the end of the conversation.

"Sammy? We need some serious help here if we're going to finish this tonight." Jacob's voice turned all thoughts back to the moment with her family.

"Coming, Dad."

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Daniel folded his cellphone shut. What he said took him by surprise as much as it did Sam. Shaking his head, he went to answer the door, expecting to see the people he had been working with the last few days.

His phone rang. He answered it automatically as he opened the door, ready to tell whoever was calling that it wasn't a good time.

"This is Daniel Jackson," Daniel said.

"Daniel! Whatcha doing?"

"Jack, can I call you back?" He gave the people gathered outside his room - who he was surprised to find he didn't recognize - an apologetic look while he tried to get Jack off the phone as politely as he could.

Jack was in the middle of telling him no when the strangers forced their way into his room. He uttered half formed noises of surprise and indignation. The phone was taken out of his hand and Jack received a rude hung up.

"Hey!" Daniel tried to gain control of the situation. "What do you think you're doing?"

Instead of an answer, one man wrestled him to the floor while another hovered at his side. A woman closed the door softly behind them, her composure never wavered as she watched the man as he pushed a needle into Daniel's neck.

Daniel's world turned dark.

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When he woke up, he found himself in a familiar situation which he was not at all fond of. That is, he found himself waking up from a drugged sleep seated with his hands bound behind him.

"Dr. Jackson."

Daniel squinted up at the man, still feeling the effects of the sedative. "What do you want?" he asked.

Amery sat down opposite Daniel. "I'm glad you asked. We have a little translation problem we would like your help with."

"Okay." That didn't help Daniel at all. "Let's start over. Who are you?"

"Believe it or not, Doctor, both of our respective organizations have the same goals in mind. Though you might not approve of our methods in reaching that goal."

Daniel resisted the urge to roll his eyes. The NID. Of course. This was sounding more and more like a bad cliché from an espionage movie.

"Um, one thing. Didn't we bust you guys two years ago?"

"You are, of course, referring to the time when Jack O'Neill exposed certain members of our group by pretending to be a traitor?"

"Good times," Daniel said.

"You realize that they were only a small faction within the NID?"

"Knew it was too good to be true," Daniel muttered.

"O'Neill's stint did manage to halt our access to the Stargate, if it's any consolation," Amery said with no hint of humor.

"Can we get to the point?" The woman finally spoke up. What Daniel took as unfeeling calmness was, in fact, tightly controlled nervousness. Her hands were fiddling with silvery wires and her voice was high with tension.

"That would be up to Daniel." Amery did not once turn to look at her.

"Ah, the translation. I think you already know the answer." Daniel thought for a moment. "If you no longer have access to the Stargate, where did you find this.. whatever it is.. for me to decipher."

"It was recovered before we were cut off."

"And you guys _still_ haven't figured it out?" Daniel was pleased.

"No. Fortunately, we have your help now."

"Um, no, you don't."

"You'd be surprised." Amery smiled. Daniel cocked an eyebrow.

Daniel noticed the woman moving forward with the wires. A picture was beginning to form in his head.

"What's that?" he asked, trying to stall for time.

"Something our good doctor," Amery nodded at her, "came up with. You might recognize the small object she is attaching to your temple as a Tok'ra memory device. The other, rather larger, piece was passed on to us from a native of P3R-118, after a little negotiating."

His brows furrowed in thought. "The planet that was going through an ice age?" Unpleasant memories, both sets of them, came unbidden to his mind. His eyes widened as the meaning sunk in.

"You're lying. That happened well after Jack's undercover op."

"Yes, it did. But I'm not lying. A few of our operatives," Amery held up a placating hand to forestall anymore questions, "were part of the team evacuating the worker classes of that planet. They approached -what was his name?- Caulder with the offer of taking him with them if only he'd provide one of the memory stamp devices to us. He was, shall we say, more than happy to comply; the prospect of remaining on an ice planet with no workers to keep the cold at bay helped in our negotiation."

Daniel didn't know what to say. The fact that there were undiscovered NID personnel at the SGC was the least of his worries in the face of what was about to happen. His only hope lie in the fact that the stamp was not permanent.

Seeming to sense Daniel's line of thought, Amery leaned forward and said quietly, "I know what happened last time and let me assure you: the modifications we made will remedy the problem."

Smiling pointedly, Amery waved the scientist over to start the process.


	3. Chapter 3

Daniel looked warily at the scientist as she worked on her little contraption before tearing his gaze away to focus on Amery.

"Unless you expect me to finish the translation within a day, in which case you really should consider hiring a more competent linguist, how do you plan on explaining my absence to the SGC?" Daniel asked.

"Your death will be pretty self explanatory."

"Come again?"

"You'll be involved in an unfortunate accident on the drive to the airport tomorrow morning. Your body won't be recovered," Amery said.

"Oh." Daniel tried to take what little comfort he could in that he wouldn't be used against his friends.

"Don't think we didn't consider keeping you within the SGC. Unfortunately, we appear to be quite limited even with the advanced technologies we have at our disposal." Amery cast a disapproving look to his scientist.

She returned the look with an icy glare of her own. "The process of altering an existing memory is a lot more complex than to erase it completely and implant new ones. If it is at all possible. And the implants themselves will be vague at best."

Amery gave her an indulging smile as if he perfectly understood the obstacles and didn't fault her for it. She glared at him, then returned to her work without another word. "It comes down to this - you won't be returning to the SGC because you will have no memories of it or of your team."

Daniel tried to reign in the rising horror he was feeling since the mention of P3R-118. The thought of losing one's self again was alarming, but the knowledge of what he would become - a willing participant with the NID - dredged up a deep anger within him.

He tried his binds again though he knew the futility of it. He planned on finding a way out of this situation up until the very last moment. In which case he would implement plan B. He hoped Jack would figure out something was wrong when they grabbed his phone and hung up on him so abruptly; plan B relyed quite heavily on a certain colonel of the Air Force.

"Are we ready?" Amery's voice broke into Daniel's thoughts.

A sudden knock at the door froze everyone in their tracks. Daniel glanced at the clock on the bedside table. To his surprise only 30 minutes had gone by since his uninvited guests had showed up.

Amery looked at Daniel, anger briefly dominated his features at this interruption. "Were you expecting guests, Dr. Jackson?"

"Dinner arrangement, actually," Daniel answered.

"Send them away, if you please."

The woman looked nervous. They did not expect company.

"What's to keep me from calling out for help right now?" Daniel asked.

"Their lives, of course." His captor nodded to the other man who had been standing to the side so quietly that Daniel had almost forgotten his presence. The silent bystander slowly pulled out a knife as if in demonstration.

"You would risk murder in public?" Daniel asked incredulously.

"It really is no risk, Doctor. My friend is very good at his job, as you are apparently at yours."

Daniel's face was grim. "You don't expect me to yell at them to go away, do you?"

"That wouldn't be polite." Amery waved his silent partner to unbind Daniel. "We trust you to do the right thing."

Daniel stood up slowly, resisting the urge to rub his abused wrists. He passed the woman as he walked to the door. He briefly contemplated grabbing her as a hostage but dismissed it almost as quickly as the thought came; the thug was no more than a pace behind and it was doubtful it'd do any good.

He opened the door to his smiling colleagues. Their smiles became uncertain at the look on his face.

"Doctor Jackson?" one of them asked

"Um, I'm sorry, I'm afraid I have to cancel. Something came up," Daniel said vaguely.

"I hope it's nothing serious."

"Oh, no, no. Just some unexpected guests decided to drop by tonight." With that, Daniel opened the door fully and made a gesture indicating the thug and the woman. "So, see you all later. Have a good time. Oh, and, Mike, we'll have to continue our discussion on ancient Egypt some time. Your theories on their resurrection rituals are very intriguing." He shut the door on them before they could make any replies.

Amery was not happy to have two of his people exposed. "You do realize, Jackson, that you have just placed your new friends in very real danger?"

That thought didn't occur to Daniel until the moment he did it. There was nothing he could do about that now except perhaps convince Amery they were no threat to him or his people.

"They have no idea who you are or what you represent. After tonight, I doubt I'd ever see them again anyway, with the exception of maybe in a consultation capacity over the phone. They are no threat to you," Daniel said, with heavy emphasis on the last. "You'll only bring suspicion to my _accident_ if anything were to happen to them!"

Amery gave no indication of having heard any of it. He gave instructions for Daniel to be seated again, but he began to struggle on instinct. Amery's associate clamped a hand painfully to Daniel's throat with his arm twisted up against his back until it threatened to pop out of it's socket. With oxygen cut off, it wasn't long before Daniel collapsed into a heaving heap.

"Enough of this. Sedate him for the remainder of the night."

The thug nodded, pulled out another syringe and plunged it into the unresisting body at his feet.

Before the darkness could take over, Daniel realized just how much he would be losing: the memories of his parents, Sha're, the SGC, his friends, all could be lost to him forever. The sudden panic and helplessness almost overwhelmed him then. He brushed aside those feelings and clung onto a single memory of his past. Nothing, no one, could take that away from him. If all else was to be lost, he would fight to keep this, always.


	4. Chapter 4

Jack dismissed the muffled noises in the middle of his elaborate reason on why _no_, he didn't want to call back, he wanted to talk _now._ He was a little more than annoyed when he was cut off abruptly. He tried Daniel's number again but was directed straight to his voice mail.

"Oh, for..." Jack said under his breath. He gave up for now and called Carter instead.

"Sam speaking."

"Carter! How's it going?" Jack asked.

"Colonel?" Sam was somewhat surprised to hear from him. "How was the fishing, sir?" He could practically hear the smile in her voice.

"Fine, it was fine. You and Jacob heading back soon?"

"Are you checking up on us, sir?" she asked in mock indignation.

"I want to spend some quality time with my team before we're officially back on duty, if that's okay with you, _Major,_" Jack said with light sarcasm. "Jacob's welcome to join us, of course," he added generously.

Sam grinned at her father, who had looked up from the game with his grandkids to look inquiringly at her. "Colonel O'Neill just invited us to dinner, Dad. He's buying."

"Now, wait a minute-" Jack began.

"Tell him to count me in," Jacob said, sharing an amused look with his daughter.

"What time should we meet you, sir?"

"Can we talk about who is supposedly paying for this dinner that _you_ suggested in the first place?"

"I thought you offered, Colonel. Shall I tell General Carter that you changed your mind?"

"That won't be necessary, Major," Jack said, playing the rank game.

"Yes, sir." Sam winked at her father. "We'll be home around 10 tomorrow morning. When would you like to meet?"

"That would depend on Daniel." Teal'c's return was, of course, scheduled in advance so there would be no surprises when the wormhole engaged. "I tried to call him but he _hung up_ on me," Jack said in a slightly injured tone of voice.

"He said he had dinner plans with friends tonight, sir. I'm sure it's nothing personal," Sam tried to assure her CO.

"Yeah, well, I left him a few carefully worded messages. Nothing personal, of course."

"Yes, sir," she said, then smiled as she recalled their conversation. "He sounded so excited when I was on the phone with him. Apparently he and a few of his peers found some pretty important documents buried among a bunch of old references." She didn't know why she shared that with her CO; the colonel was well known for his impatience for everything related to her's and Daniel's work. Perhaps it was because she hadn't heard him sound so carefree and happy in so long. Much like how he missed her laugh.

"What?" O'Neill demanded.

"Sir?"

"He was _working_ this whole time?"

Sam winced. Daniel was going to kill her. "I thought you knew."

"_No_, I didn't. _Nobody_ tells me anything around here."

"That's not true, sir," Sam said automatically.

The line was silent and Sam could practically sense his skepticism.

"Did he at least mention when he'll be back?" Jack asked.

"Tomorrow.. but not specifically, no," Sam answered unhelpfully.

"I'll try him again tomorrow then. You guys need a ride from the airport?"

"If you insist, sir."

"Right. I'll see you tomorrow."

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The next day found Jack's attempts to reach Daniel met with no success. He frowned as the message telling him to leave a message came up once again. He tapped his steering wheel absently as he waited for the two Carters to arrive.

It wasn't long before Sam was smiling cheerfully at him from the curb of the pick-up points of the airport. He couldn't help smiling back; she looked so happy.

O'Neill stepped out of his truck to offer a hand in handling the luggage. He exchanged a warm greeting with Jacob, whose smile matched Sam's own. Their short week together did them both wonders.

"Nice to see you when the world's not in any actual danger. We should do this more often," O'Neill said.

Jacob snorted and climbed into the truck. Sam, who was already inside, tried not to show her amusement.

"Did you get ahold of Daniel?" Sam asked.

"No." Jack's frown returned. "I talked to General Hammond. Who, incidentally, not only knew about Daniel's plan for his _vacation,_" Sam and Jacob could see the metaphoric quotes around 'vacation', "but actually planned the whole thing with him."

"I really didn't know, sir," Sam said, as if it was an accusation. "I only found out last night."

"That's not the point. Hammond said Daniel's flight should have landed over two hours ago but I still haven't been able to reach him." Jack tried not to sound concerned as Daniel was well known for letting his work dominate his life at times. Even common sense disappears, come to think of it.

"You think he's still back there caught up in his research?"

"I don't know. I'm just a little worried that he's not answering his phone," Jack admitted.

Sam was now worried, too. "Maybe I should give it a try."

Jack shrugged. "Be my guest."

She was in the middle of dialing her phone when Jack's rung. He flipped it open expecting his errant archaeologist and was ready to berate him for ignoring his attempts to get in touch when Hammond's voice came on the line instead.

"Colonel, head back to base. We need to talk," he said gently.

"What is it, General?" Jack's voice was tight in response to Hammond's quiet request. Sam shut her phone off, her attention now on O'Neill.

Instead of answering, the general asked instead, "Do you have Major Carter with you?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Teal'c is already here. We need you two back ASAP," Hammond sounded exhausted.

"Sir, what's going on?" Jack demanded. Sam's concern was growing by the minute.

"We will talk when you get here."

"_No, sir,_" Jack said forcefully. "I need to know what's going on _now_."

Jack could hear Hammond's deep sigh and couldn't help tensing as he waited for the answer.

There was a long pause before Hammond said, "I've been informed that Dr. Jackson was involved in an accident."

Jack tensed visibly as he asked, "Is he okay?"

"I'm sorry, son." The meaning was perfectly clear in those words.

Jack's breath caught, his blood turning to ice. All coherent thought momentarily left him. It took a few long seconds before he could gather himself.

"Understood, sir," Jack said, his voice perfectly controlled. "We're on our way." He slowly put his phone away.

"Sir?" Sam asked. O'Neill looked at her in wonder; how could she remain so calm?

_She doesn't know yet,_ Jack thought, and realized he couldn't subject his commander to saying those words again, knowing what it cost him just now. _That was why he wanted us all there together, so he wouldn't have to. _Jack felt hollow inside; he would have to be the one to tell her.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** A few updates to previous chapters. Nothing major, just smoothing out of some sentences so they don't sound as awkward. Thank you, everyone, who took the time to read my story! I especially appreciate the reviews :) 

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Daniel woke to a gnawing sensation that something was wrong. He lay still in an attempt to pinpoint the feeling. Pictures of people and places that held no meaning to him appeared in his mind, but when he tried to focus on one, it drifted and dispersed like a fading dream until nothing was left except a vague sense of loss. And, after a moment, even that was gone.

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Everyone stayed clear as Jack, Sam, and Jacob made their way to General Hammond's office. It could be because the SG personnel had heard, given the nature of how fast news travels on base, though most probably took the hint from the look on their faces.

The group, including Teal'c who was already waiting, found seats around Hammond's office. The exception being O'Neill, who chose to stand in the background. Hammond left his place from behind the desk to join them. It was almost an unconscious decision on his part to close the unspoken separation of his position - both literally and figuratively - from that of his subordinates and Jacob.

Jack was the first to speak after the door was shut. "What's this about Daniel being dead?" A beat, then, "Again."

After the conversation with his CO, the shock almost had Jack accepting the idea that Daniel was gone. It was while he tried to gather his scattered thoughts to relay the news to the Carters that he pulled himself up short. There was no way Daniel could be dead. Not while on Earth. Not with him alone and hundreds of miles from his team. Not when Jack was not there for his friend.

Hammond gave his 2IC a look, as if sensing the change in attitude from the carefully hidden grief on the phone to the man who was now questioning the validity of the claim.

"The details of the accident are being forwarded to me as we speak. What little I have learned was from the duty officer in charge of the investigation." The officer in question sounded bemused to be speaking with a general of the Air Force, after spending a full morning trying to locate a contact for Jackson in the first place.

"Accident?" Sam asked, still not quite believing. Jack could see she was having the same internal battle as himself. They had been told of Daniel's untimely demise too often to take it at face value.

"The rental he signed for was seen going over the bridge. Witnesses said it was as if he suddenly just lost control."

"Sabotage," Teal'c said, his voice deep with suppressed rage.

"I agree the circumstances surrounding the accident are unusual, but no signs of foul play were found from the recovered vehicle. Of course, the investigation is still underway," Hammond said.

SG-1 shared a look. "And Daniel?" Jack asked quietly, voicing their fears.

Hammond didn't know if it constituted good news or not, so he simply said, "No body was found. It was assumed the currents from the river below carried it-" Hammond quickly corrected himself, "him away."

Jack cheered up almost immediately. "Ha! There you go. We're just dealing with one temporarily misplaced archaeologist. Permission to join in on the S&R, sir."

"Jack," Hammond said, trying to find the most tactful way to keep the colonel grounded. "Dr. Jackson won't be the first, nor likely last, person to disappear in that river. They've lost people to it before. "

Before Jack could say something in return that he'd regret later, Sam jumped in, "Sir, we would like to be there all the same. We can't be sure of what happened until we find Daniel." She added grimly, "One way or another."

"I understand, Major, and I agree. All missions assigned to SG-1 have been postponed for the time being."

"Thank you, sir," Sam said.

"I am not giving SG-1 this investigation out of any personal consideration." Though the general secretly harbored hopes for Daniel's safe return, he had to be realistic in order to keep his people on track and not distracted by wild expectations."You are to look into the circumstances leading up to the accident; I need to know if it is in any way connected to the SGC. Let me reiterate: This is not a Search and Rescue. Let the local forces handle it."

"Yes, _sir,_" Jack said as he stood to attention and gave Hammond a by-the-book salute.

Hammond softened a little. "Jack, I know what it sounds like, but this could have unforeseeable consequences for the SGC. We have to proceed with caution, not unfounded optimism."

"Understood, sir." Jack knew he was letting the personal nature of the situation take control. He made a conscious effort to rein in his anger and let military training take over. This would not be the first time the soldier in him took precedent over friendship. Yet, Jack couldn't help reflecting, Daniel being personally involved was never a handicap, but rather his strength.

"Good. Information will be given to each of you as I receive it. You leave within the hour."

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They arrived at the site with Hammond's instructions clear in their minds. Efficient and saying little, they interviewed witnesses, discussed the scene with investigators, and surveyed the area with quiet detachment. The only hint of what they were going through was the slight flicker of horror in Sam's eyes when they were shown the wreck. Anyone surviving a plunge into the river that did that to the vehicle was minimal at best.

Carter took a breath before turning to her teammates. "I'll put in a request to the general about bringing the vehicle to the base. It will take a while to go over the whole thing, even with a team."

O'Neill nodded and watched her walk away to make the call. It was the only thing they had to go on; little was found at the scene and the only concrete evidence the witnesses could provide was that the probability was high it was Daniel behind the wheel.

O'Neill asked Teal'c, "She was sure?"

"The description she gave of the driver matched that of Daniel Jackson. It was further confirmed when she positively identified him from his photo." Teal'c paused briefly before continuing, "In addition, she stated the reason she remembered was that he appeared to be 'really cute' and had hopes of catching his attention at the next stop light."

Jack couldn't help smiling briefly at that.

"Other witnesses, while not as detailed, gave support to her claim."

"Right. We're done here. Inform General Hammond of what we found, then we're moving on to the hotel."

Teal'c inclined his head and walked after Sam.

Jack turned to the detective who was assigned to them as liaison. "Have they made any progress in locating Dr. Jackson?" he asked with professional detachment, showing no hint of his concern.

The detective shook his head, "No, but we didn't have much hopes of finding him in the first place. The river's too deep and fast, the body could be miles away by now."

Jack gritted his teeth but didn't correct his use of the term 'body'. "How long will they continue the search?"

His counterpart shrugged. "I really don't know. It's a waste of time in any case." The detective looked over the rail guard to the deceptively calm river below. "We've lost five people to it within the last two years and only one was found, a week later. Not like this, of course. This is the most spectacular accident we've had in years. What's this guy to the military anyway?" The detective pulled back to look at O'Neill, then stumbled back a step at the look in his eyes.

"You tell them to keep looking," Jack ordered quietly. "I want hourly updates, do you understand?"

The man, suddenly fearful for his life, nodded.

Jack walked away in search of his team.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** I would have updated _much_ earlier.. except I was side-tracked by **new episodes of Stargate**!Wohoo! I know some people feel.. ambiguous.. or perhaps even downright hatred.. for season 10, but I guess I'm just easily pleased. Or, more likely, I'm such an obsessive Daniel fan that I'd take anything! That said, however, I feel that season 10 is off to a pretty good start and it is my hope to see a season 11. If not, there is always the hope of future movies. Either way, I'm content. If anyone is still reading this, what do you think of season 10 so far?

Anyway, here's an extra long chapter!

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It had been over two weeks since Daniel's disappearance, and as yet they had little to show for their efforts in solving the mystery. Despite misgivings over how such an accident could have occurred, they found no evidence to dispute the fact that it was, in fact, just that: an accident.

The search of Daniel's room at the hotel was a dead end, though they hadn't known what they could possibly hope to find there in the first place. It was fairly late when the team left the accident scene; the summer sun was low on the horizon and dusk was setting in. By the time they concluded their futile search of the room, it was completely dark.

It was at this point that O'Neill decided to send Carter back along with the recovered wreckage so she could begin work on it as soon as possible. He and Teal'c were to stay in pursuit of possible clues from Daniel's peers.

Carter had hesitated before leaving. "You'll let me know if you find anything?"

O'Neill, in response, had raised a brow in mild rebuke, "Carter."

No further words were needed as she realized he would have kept her appraised in any case. She took her leave.

O'Neill and Teal'c proceeded to spend the next two days tracking down and questioning anyone whom Daniel might have worked with, including the expected dinner guests the night before the crash. The scientists and researchers had surprisingly little input for their investigation; apparently _all_ they ever talked about was the work at hand. A few spoke warmly of his character, but noted his distinct lack of interest in sharing his personal life. They attributed it to his single-minded passion for the work.

Of the dinner party, four had worked with Daniel extensively and were part of the group to discover the hidden journals amongst the outdated references. They expressed genuine shock and grief at hearing the news, though they, too, could shed little light on what could have possibly gone wrong.

Grasping at straws, O'Neill ventured, "Those old books you guys found, were they worth anything?"

To which one of them answered, "If you mean commercial value, no. But historically speaking, they're priceless."

Which meant nothing to O'Neill. Nonetheless he made a mental note to have copies of them sent to the SGC, just in case.

"Was his behavior out of the ordinary during his last evening here?" Teal'c asked.

"He seemed a little stressed when we went to pick him up," one of the men volunteered.

"And during the meal?"

"We didn't go. He had some people over and needed to cancel," the only woman of the group said thoughtfully, squinting slightly as if reliving the account. "He seemed a little uncomfortable with them, actually."

O'Neill tensed subtly. "What people?"

A third member of the group, a sandy haired man, said, "Don't know. Never seen them before. We figured they were out of town friends dropping by."

None could describe in any detail the couple they saw through Daniel's doorway. O'Neill considered going back to the room to do a search again, but dismissed the idea almost immediately; they found nothing the first time and undoubtedly the result would be the same if they tried again. Especially as housekeeping had no doubt been through the room already.

At least they could say with certainty that that was the last anyone saw of Daniel.

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With SG-1, minus Daniel, reunited at the mountain complex, General Hammond called them into a briefing for a progress report. They had little to share, except the mysterious people Daniel was seen with the last night before he was due back. Carter and her team found no conclusive evidence that could point to foul play. The general in turn could offer little, the local authorities had closed the case, officially pronouncing it an accident. S&R parties could find no sign of Dr. Jackson and had called off the search. No threats or ransom demands were sent to the SGC and, logically, Hammond could only come to the same conclusion as the police. His instincts, however, believe otherwise.

"What about those people in Daniel's room?" demanded O'Neill.

"We were informed of Daniel Jackson's apparent distress over their presence," Teal'c said.

"Which tells me absolutely nothing," Hammond sighed.

Carter leaned forward, her expression earnest, "Sir, we can't just give up. Daniel has a way of surviving the odds."

"I will continue to look into this from my end," Hammond said, "but officially, there is little you can do at this point."

Hammond turned to face O'Neill before continuing, "I've been instructed to put Dr. Jackson's personal effects in order. SG-1 is to stand down until a replacement fourth can been found."

O'Neill was borderline between disbelief and anger. "You make it sound like they've already made up their minds that Daniel's dead!'

The general's gaze didn't waver when he replied, "They have."

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The Pentagon understood Daniel Jackson's contribution and vital importance to the SGC, but they also recognized the need to continue with the primary mission of the project. While the SGC was slow in getting operations back to normal, by the end of the second week of Daniel's absence, Hammond was under pressure to reinstate SG-1 back to the front line, under the insistence that either he assign a fourth, or they would.

The team had never once been idle in their unofficial investigation, though there were only so many people they could question and the answers all seemed to lead them in circles or to dead ends. O'Neill was furious in being told he was resuming 'gate travel within the next few days.

"Daniel is still out there, sir," O'Neill said tightly.

"It's been two weeks, Jack. What would you have me do?" Hammond said wearily.

"My point exactly! It's only _been_ two weeks."

"Unless you've come up with a lead, for all intents and purposes, Dr. Jackson is gone."

O'Neill gritted his teeth and looked away, making no reply.

"Dr. Griffin from the anthropology department will be joining SG-1 on a trial run to P2X-445. Briefing is at 0800 tomorrow."

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Amery could see from his position in the doorway that the man's full concentration was on the artifact on the table. He took the opportunity to study the seemingly oblivious figure, taking care to remain quiet. Apparently it didn't work.

"Something I can do for you, Mr. Amery?" said the man still hunched over the artifact.

"Must we always be so formal?" he asked smilingly.

The man made no reply but continued to make notes on a small pad next to him.

Amery made his way into the room to stand behind the archaeologist, who continued to ignore his presence.

"Have you made any progress since we last spoke?"

"No. Like I've already told you, the notes left by whoever last studied this was of absolutely no use to me. I'm having to start over from scratch on a script I've never encountered before." He gave a frustrated sigh, throwing his pencil carelessly onto the table.

"I have complete confidence in you, Nathan." Amery put a hand on Nathan's shoulder in what he thought was a friendly, encouraging manner.

Nathan shrugged him off and leaned toward the artifact, effectively putting more distance between the two men. "Thank you. I should probably get back to it."

Amery nodded, a neutral expression on his face as he exited the room.

When Amery was out of sight, Nathan sighed - this time of relief - and slumped back against his chair. He did not understand the animosity he felt toward the other man but all his instinct warned him that he could not be trusted.

Turning back to the problem at hand, Nathan reached out to lightly trace the inscriptions carved on the smooth surface of the tablet. He was not completely truthful about the progress he had made, but the words he managed to translate troubled him. From the few sentences he managed to string together, the writings revealed a machine of destruction and the means of constructing it. However, it was the technical aspects that gave raise to his doubts and initially made him question the accuracy of his translations. After confirming his research, he could only accept that this ancient tablet held the secrets to a certain technology hundreds of years ahead of what was feasible today.

A part of him was strangely unsurprised at this.

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Amery strode into a room only a few doors down from the one containing Nathan and the off-world artifact. The only occupant of the room glanced up briefly from monitoring her patient to acknowledge him.

"I don't think that boy likes me, Emily," Amery said with a wry smile.

"No," was the short reply from the woman.

"Is the treatment still holding?"

"No signs of his original memories are surfacing, for the moment. His behavior has been cooperative and, to a point, almost docile. A little bonus from the device, no doubt." She finally looked up from the screens to focus her attention on her superior.

"You couldn't have made him think he likes me? It'd certainly make our meetings more pleasant."

"I can't alter his perception of character traits. There is nothing I can do to make him more receptive to certain personalities," she said.

Amery raised a brow, wondering if the statement should be taken at face value or if it was meant as a subtle insult. "So I'm just not likeable?"

Emily shrugged, ignoring the question. "I'm surprised that it is working so well, actually. His behavior clearly shows his acceptance of the implanted memories. And as yet no problems have arisen, as they would have by now, going from reports of how it went on the planet," the woman said, almost wonderingly. She looked back down to the screen, watching as Daniel, newly christened Nathan, traced the symbols of the artifact with his fingers.

"Doctor, I never doubted for a moment that you could do it." They watched the screen together, each following their own thoughts stemming from the man on the screen. "As I have no doubt Dr. Jackson will bring me exactly what I want."

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Base personnel had taken special care not to aggravate the members of SG-1, and the safest way to go about that was to avoid them if at all possible. The team took no notice of this.

Jack O'Neill's demeanor could be described as calm, perhaps even indifferent, as they approached the fourth week of Daniel's absence.

Carter's behavior was subdued, quiet. Smiles didn't come as easily to her as they did before.

Teal'c was stoic as ever, with possibly a slight hint of stiffness to his posture that hadn't been there since he first joined SG-1 over four years ago.

Griffin, assigned now to SG-1 after the uneventful trial run three days ago, sat nervously to one side as his fellow teammates ate lunch.

"So, Carter, think we can wrap this up ahead of schedule?" asked O'Neill around a mouthful of spaghetti.

The major cast her CO an apologetic glance, knowing how much he, and herself, wished to get back to Earth and resume their search for their errant friend. "Sorry, sir. The survey area, plus the nature of the tests, require that we follow protocols to the letter. It's not something we can rush through."

O'Neill nodded his understanding and said, "No pressure, Major." He threw what was left of his MRE next to the campfire as he stood up. "Think I'll take a walk."

"I will accompany you," Teal'c said, also getting up.

Griffin and Carter watched the two men go. She sighed through pursed lips as she set aside her meal. "Let's get back to work."

"Of course, Major," Griffin quickly agreed.

Carter glanced over to their new member, a feeling of guilt stealing over her. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be so abrupt. Are you done with lunch?"

Griffin wanted to say he wasn't hungry. He, like the rest of the team, just wanted to go home. Although for him, it was to get away from the tension his teammates were giving off in almost tangible waves. Instead, he just smiled. "Yeah. Ready to get back at 'em."

As they went about getting their equipment set up, Griffin cleared his throat and said timidly, "Major.."

"Hmm?"

"I know it isn't easy, but don't you think it's about time to move on?"

"I don't know what you mean, Doctor," Carter said, busying herself with bringing a scanner online.

Griffin forged on,"Do you truly believe Dr. Jackson is still alive?"

Carter stopped what she was doing. She seemed to be genuinely thinking over the question in the ensuring silence. Griffin was starting to regret bringing the subject up when she said softly, "No."

There didn't seem to be more that could be said. They went back to work without speaking another word.

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Nathan didn't know how much longer he could stall. Each time he told Amery he hadn't made any headway, the the look he received grew more skeptical.

He had translated over three quarters of the tablet and gleaned the more useful information it had to offer. The more he learned, the more convinced he was that it needed to be destroyed. He had yet to figure out a way to eliminate all traces of the artifact as, despite the worthlessness of the notes left by his predecessor, they were incredibly extensive and included detailed pictures and impressions of the inscriptions itself, filed away somewhere. Everything given to him to work with were copies.

"Nathan, how are you this morning?" Amery said, jolting him from his thoughts.

_You mean how's the work coming, _Nathan thought, but said instead, "Fine. Thanks."

"And how is the translation? You surely have made some progress by now."

"Um, a little."

"I was under the impression that you're the top in the field when we acquired your assistance." A note of impatience entered his voice.

Nathan, who had been trying to ignore the other man, came suddenly alert. "What?"

Amery's expression was blank as he regard Nathan. "Something the matter?"

"No..." he shook his head, more puzzled than curious at his own reaction.

Not entirely convinced but also not wanting to pursuit it any further, Amery just excused himself, citing a meeting he was late for when moments before he appeared ready to stay indefinitely.

Something Amery said made Nathan realize there was a question he should have asked himself long before now. _How did he come to work for a man he distrusts?_

_----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

"Something's wrong," Amery said when he found the doctor in her office.

"What is it?" she asked, half raising from her chair.

"I don't know. Maybe it's nothing. But he reacted to something I said."

"Can you be a little bit more specific?" Emily asked.

"No, I'm not sure what happened. He was startled by something I said, apparently." Now that he had a chance to review the scene, it appeared much too trivial to warrant such suspicion.

"I will review the session tapes immediately, but it could be completely unrelated to what you said."

He nodded. "See to it."

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That night Nathan found he couldn't sleep. His mind was swirling with questions stemming from the initial one brought up by a chance remark from Amery. He had answers to none of them.

What had he been doing before he came here? Why had he seen no one else since he came to work for a man he distrusted? What of his family? His past was a hazy fog that he could drege no specific events from.

He got up from his bed and started to pace. His memories seemed to only contain generic versions of a childhood, of growing up and of school. He couldn't name his parents, let alone any friends he might have had. The more he thought about it the more agitated he became.

Where did he attend his graduate studies? Where was he born? _When_ was he born? The only memories he could recall details of begin three weeks ago, the day he started this project. A part of him felt like he had known Amery for years, yet strangely, the first instance he could recall ever speaking to him was the day he was introduced to the tablet.

The door to his room opened, to his surprise, and Amery walked in. A woman in a lab coat trailed a pace behind.

"Nathan, we need you to sit down," the woman said.

"What? What are you doing in here?" he asked in confusion and growing alarm.

"We need to talk," Amery said.

"Yeah, talking is good. I'll stand over here if it's all the same."

"We need you to sit down."

"Who is she?" Nathan asked, changing the subject.

"Emily is a good friend of mine. She just wants to ask you a few questions about the tablet."

"In the middle of the night?"

"You're still awake."

"Not the point."

Emily said tersely, "Please, sit down."

"Actually, I have a few questions of my own."

"Good, let's talk. Sit." Amery's voice was edged with impatience.

Nathan nodded and moved toward a chair next to his desk. He noticed Emily taking something out from the folds of her coat, though he couldn't make out what it was. He took his eyes off of it to look at Amery, whose expression was tense.

Instinct kicked in, as well as logic. This did not bode well for him and he knew he had to get out while he could, before they did whatever it was they came to do.

Amery was seated next to the chair Daniel was moving toward but the woman still stood by the door, which fortunately still stood open. Without missing a beat, he pushed passed Amery with enough force to flip him off the chair. A painful crack and a bellowing curse followed a second later. Emily was unprepared for this sudden sprang of action and he rushed by her with no resistance.

"Dammit!" Amery cursed, whether in response to his getting away or the pain in his back, or both, was not clear. "Go after him!"

The woman looked flustered, gesturing uselessly after Nathan. "He took the sedative from me."

Amery growled out something and pulled his phone out, barking out instructions. After he finished, he glared up at the scientist. "Go. After. Him."

She gaped at him for an instant, then turned, running down the hall.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Wow. Two chapters within the space of 24 hours. It's a new record for me! I guess I'm trying to get as much in as possible before the airing of Stargate tonight (7/28). Pegasus Project! An episode I have been looking forward to since I first heard about it. People, don't forget to watch it LIVE as it helps with the rating!

I'm going to continue to call Daniel 'Nathan' when writing from his point of view as that's who he think he is at the moment. Hope it won't confuse anyone!

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Nathan ran along the long hallway. He didn't know where he was going or how he was getting out of the building. He ran because he knew people would be looking for him almost immediately, it was luck that he hadn't come across any of them yet. He paused in a stairwell, catching his breath and trying to come up with a plan. "Right, right. A plan. Plan "A". Easy." Somehow, all this felt just a bit too familiar.

He didn't have time to contemplate those feelings as the unmistakable sound of footfalls close in. Not the heavy booted ones he was expecting, rather it sounded like the clicks of high heels.

He peered around the corner and saw Emily half ran, half walk down the corridor checking through each door. He pressed himself against the wall as he waited for her to make her way down, then reach out and grabbed her when she went past.

Her surprised yelp was effectively suppressed by his hand covering her mouth. "Okay, I don't know what is in this thing I took from you, but I suggest you remain quiet if you don't want it _in_ you."

The woman nodded slowly, feeling the pressure of the needle pressing into her hip.

"All right, like I said back in the room, I have a _lot_ of questions. Unfortunately, I'm a little pressed for time, so just tell me how to get out of here." He carefully withdrew his hand from her mouth, but quite ready to replace it at the first sign of resistance.

"Two floors down. The main entrance's there."

"I'm looking more for a back door, actually."

"Down this hall is a service elevator that goes down to the loading dock. The side door leads to an alley," She nodded in the direction of the lift.

"No stairs?" he asked. The thought of being stuck in a little box that could only go up or down was not pleasant in light of his situation.

"Not from this floor."

"Right then," he said, wondering if he could take her word for it. On the other hand, he doubt he could drag her with him against her will while trying to evade capture. Especially when the only weapon he has on him was a hypodermic needle that would be absolutely no use if she got as far as an arm's length away. Plus, she was in heels, which would make things awkward at best.

"I don't suppose you would want to come quietly?"

"No, not really," she said, her voice matter of fact.

"Things don't really faze you, do they?"

"You could say that."

Nathan sighed. So much for small talk. "Is whatever in this thing lethal?"

She shook her head, "we have no intention of harming you, you know. If you would just come back with me, we can have that talk."

Instead of answering, he injected her with the contents of the needle. A moment later, she dropped soundlessly to the ground. He checked her pulse, just to make sure, and found it strong and steady.

"At least she told the truth about that," he said to himself wryly.

With one last look around to make sure the coast was clear, he walked down the direction indicated. At the end of the hall, as promised, was a service elevator. So far, the corridor remained empty, making him wonder if it truly was luck or incompetence on their part. Perhaps it was all a trap, leading him to a room full of angry guards.

Feeling conspicuous, and somewhat ridiculous, he had no choice but to wait for the elevator to come up. _This is the best escape plan_ ever, Nathan thought to himself.

After what seem an eternity and with tension mounting every second, he was never so grateful to hear the soft d_ing_ that signal the arrival of the lift.

More waiting was had in the elevator. Nathan groaned. _Coming up with a plan never was_ _my department._ He didn't have time to examine where that thought came from as the doors slid open to reveal a semi-dark, but blessedly empty, room. A door stood not five feet from him.

Nathan whistled to himself. _Wow, this escaping stuff is really not that hard._

No sooner had that thought cross his mind then three men emerged from the inky darkness of a stairway opposite him. Nathan rolled his eyes. _Stairs_.

Amery limped forward ahead of his men. "Stand down, Nathan. Come quietly and I assure you that you will not be hurt."

"Ri-ght.," he said skeptically, slowly inching his way to the door.

Amery nodded to his men, who immediately took action.

_Uh oh._ Nathan thought. He turned and ran, but unfortunately his luck seem to have ran out as he rebounded from slamming into the unmoving door. _Locked_.

He put his hands up and slowly turned to face his pursuers. "All right, now what?"

"Now you come with me. You really would have saved us a lot of trouble if you had listened in the first place." Amery nodded to one of his men, who stepped forward with the intention of restraining Nathan. The man was surprised when a sudden move from Nathan brought an unexpected numbness to his limbs. It spread rapidly through his body that lead to his lost of consciousness. He dropped without a sound.

"Whatever you guys use here, it really works." Nathan said and tossed the now empty syringe aside.

The other guard was quick to move, lunging for him before his partner hit the ground. However, acting on reflex, Nathan stepped aside and helped the man's momentum along by grabbing his clothes and heaved with all his strength in the direction he was going, which sent the thug into the wall behind him.

"You know, if half of what was in that needle could bring down a guy that size, I really don't think you needed all of it just for me," Nathan said, then he rush Amery, who was unprepared to meet the assault head on. The both of them went down in a tangle of limbs and curses. The wind was knocked out of Amery and Nathan wasted no time in rendering the man senseless.

Panting with exertion and adrenaline, he allowed himself a moment to survey the room with self-satisfaction. Moment over, he crouched down and searched Amery's unmoving form. It wasn't long before he found a set of keys. "Bingo," he whispered.

It only took him three tries before finding the one that'd fit the lock on the door. He was somewhat surprised in finding that it did, indeed, lead into an alley. He hesitated a moment, wondering if this might be a good time to go back to grab the tablet and search for those notes, but decided against it. The building was large and he couldn't even begin to guess which floor it'd be on, if it was here at all.

Stepping outside, he randomly picked a direction and began to run, resuming his plan of escape. He tried not to think about what he would do once he was safe. Or the fact that he could not recall his past. He will deal with those issues later, after putting some distance between himself and those men.

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Two months. It has been two months, today.

Jack O'Neill tried not to think about it. He could not admit to himself, let alone to his team, that Daniel was lost to them. Logically, he should have accepted it a long time ago, but it simply would have amounted to giving up on his friend. Nothing he turned up indicate that Daniel might still be alive, that it was anything but a freak accident. Still, he kept searching, even when people started ignoring his calls or bothered to call him back at all.

Carter and Teal'c was still behind him, though he could tell their hearts were not in it. He could not decide if it was out of loyalty to him or Daniel that they continue with the search. Most likely both. But each time they returned home from off-world and resumed their investigation, the old hurt begin to well up, they withdrew into themselves to keep up a facade of professionalism. It was painful to watch them being reminded anew of their missing friend, especially after so long. It was cruel to make them keep trying when they come up empty handed each time. Coming home after a mission was something they were beginning to dread.

That was why he called his teammates to his house to discuss the situation; to finally grief over their lost. To say a final goodbye. It hurts him to even think it. A hollowness akin to when he first heard the news grew in him, until it overtook his thoughts and emotions and left nothing but numbness. He was grateful to that numbness.

The three of them sat in silence, each with his or her own thoughts. Carter's eyes were red with unshed tears while Teal'c, whose confidence was paramount, refused to look up from his hands resting on his lap.

The phone rang, startling everyone. O'Neill automatically went to pick it up. He had to clear his throat before he was able to form any words. "O'Neill."

The line remained silent, though he knew it was open by the background nosies coming through.

"Hello?" asked O'Neill, who was too weary to sound impatient.

He was about to hang up when he heard a slight cough and a familiar voice that froze him to the spot, "sorry, um, wrong number."

The click at the other end signified the line was dead. It only took moments for O'Neill to move into action. "Carter, trace that call. I don't care how, just do it. I'm calling the base. Teal'c, get the truck started, we're leaving."

"Sir?" asked a bewildered Carter.

Teal'c stood up but remained in his place, watching his friend with a raised brow.

"Lets _move_, people!" he said in exasperation as he dialed on his cellphone.

"O'Neill, what has happened?"

O'Neill grinned. A genuine, excited grin. "Daniel's alive."


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N**: _Thank you_ to everyone who took the time to write a review. You know how reviews makes authors all giggly and bubbly happy! Well.. at least that was my reaction. And huge thanks to anyone who's following this story! Though I'm not writing this specifically to gain an audience (this story has been swirling in my head for a couple of years now) it's always nice to see one's work seen. Perhaps not rabidly appreciated, but every little bit makes me happy. Did I mention I'm easily pleased?

In reply to devianttart, I considered having the team think it was all wishful thinking on Jack's part.. but they've always -trusted- him. Believe him? Maybe. But their trust was unquestionable.

Actually, that's a big reason why I'm such into team fics. Though, to be honest, I'm writing more for Daniel and Jack (friendship) than team here. Maybe that could be a goal for the next fic!  
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Nathan spent the weeks following his escape in putting as much distance as he could between himself and Amery. He never stay more than a few days anywhere, but was always on the move, rationalizing that he'd be harder to track this way. He found odd jobs along the way to help pay for this journey. People seem to trust him despite his increasing disheveled appearance; perhaps the way he presented himself, always polite and self depreciating, reassured them. Nathan might not even realize why they never seem to ask many questions; the pained expression on his face whenever they asked how he came to be there always stop them from venturing deeper into his history.

Tonight, he had the fortune to meet a sympathetic couple who offered him a room and board. They were elderly, but he suspect they wanted him more for the company than his ability to take care of a few things around their home. During the course of dinner, it was hinted quite heavily that he'd be welcome to stay for as long as he needed. Nathan pretended not to understand as he had already made up his mind to move on in the morning. A part of him knew he'd be a danger to these people, but more than that, he sensed that he has some place he needed to be. He doesn't know where or how to get there, but he felt the urgency of the call and could only rely on his instinct to take him in the right direction.

As he sat at the desk in the spare room that night, pondering this feeling and trying futilely to recall anything of his past, he found himself staring absently at the phone sitting in the corner. There was someone he needed to contact. Someone, he knew, who would know exactly what to do and would take care of everything. To bring him safely home again. And it wouldn't be the first time.

His heart clenched tightly in trepidation as he picked up the phone. Then he frowned at it, at a lost in what to do next. _Why_ can't he remember? It has something to do with the project he was working on, which he now knew he was never a willing participant of. They had to have done something to him. But it was impossible for them to take away his memories so selectively, wasn't it? How could he still perform in the capacity of a linguist/archaeologist if they took away the experiences that taught him those skills? How was it possible for them to plant memories of a childhood he knew to be false? And the fact that he never questioned his acquaintance with Amery?

Frustrated with all these unanswered questions, he slammed down the receiver and pushed the useless phone away from him. He took a moment to calm himself, reaching for the familiar feeling of that someone who could make this right, and ignored the obvious question of how he knew this. Without thinking, he took the receiver off the hook and rapidly punched in the number that came from out of nowhere.

It connected. The number lead somewhere. Swallowing down the fear that this was all just a coincidence, he waited for someone to pick up.

Despite the fact that he was expecting it, he was still startled to hear a voice on the line. "O'Neill."

Nothing. The voice meant nothing to him. He fought down his disappointment as he tried to come up with an excuse when the voice sounded again, "hello?"

He sensed a deep weariness from the man and regretted calling immediately. He mumbled the first excuse he could think of and hung up. He sighed, then brightened up somewhat. Even if the voice meant nothing, the number must have. Or perhaps it was all wishful thinking. Either way, it was as good a direction to head to as any. He felt more at ease with this temporary goal in mind than he had had for as long as he could truly remember.

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"Colonel?" General Hammond asked, baffled at being called this late in the evening "Is everything all right?"

"Couldn't be better, General. We found Daniel."

"You what?" he asked, wary but alert.

A tiny voice spoke up from the background, "um, sir, we don't know this for a fact."

"Colonel, I think we'd better meet up at the Base to discuss this."

"Already on our way, sir," Jack said.

Hammond sighed. This was Jack O'Neill through and through. Perhaps that meant he hadn't completely lost his mind.

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"Well, Colonel?" Hammond asked once he made his entrance into the briefing room, noting SG-1 already seated around the table.

"O'Neill claimed that Daniel Jackson called him approximately 45 minutes ago." Teal'c stated, cutting O'Neill's overtly enthusiastic reply off knowing it'd do nothing to win him this case.

O'Neill eyed the man next to him, then nodded. "That's right."

"And what did Dr. Jackson say?"

"Ah, that's not important. The important thing is that he might be in trouble and we have to go find him."

"Sir..s, I've managed to track down the number. It originates in a small city near Houston," Carter said.

"That's random. What's Daniel doing down there?" Jack asked speculatively.

"If it was indeed Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said, seemingly indifferent to his CO's optimism. O'Neill brush aside the feeling of betrayal and said instead, "spoil sport."

"Jack, are you sure it was him?" Hammond asked gently, knowing the man before him had never really given up hope. Who knew how this might affect his judgment?

All levity disappeared as he turned a hard gaze to Hammond. "I'd stake my life on it, sir."

Hammond looked to Carter and Teal'c in turn. While they showed reserves in believing that their friend was alive, their trust in O'Neill was implicit. They return his unvoiced question with a look of determination and acceptance of the Colonel's claim.

Finally, he nodded. Over the years, he has learned to trust this team, despite all contrary evidence to some of their allegations. "Very well, Colonel. Tell me what your team needs."

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Nathan strangely had the same thought as Jack once he found the number was from Colorado Springs. "That's random," he muttered.

He thanked the couple's generosity as he was leaving. He wanted to refuse the money they thrust upon him, feeling they had done much already, but he needed this money to finance his trip and he doubt his fortune would keep up all the way to Colorado.

He found his way to the bus station and purchased a one-way ticket to his chosen destination. Barring any unforeseen difficulties, he should arrive within the next day.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** Sorry for the long wait! I seem to upload my chapters right before new episodes.. and tomorrow is another big one! The 200th episode of SG-1. I am very happy to see the return of RDA, even though this is just going to be a silly (as in humorous) episode. For the heavy drama/angst type thing, we all have the _upcoming_ one to look forward to!

Huge thank you to **Rinne** for volunteering to be my beta! And **Lennie**, for now, for editing chapters 1-6! Though I never would have gotten around to doing this whole thing right if not for the helpful, constructive, and above all, encouraging reviews.

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It was the day after receiving the call supposedly made by Daniel. While O'Neill wanted to leave immediately to track down their missing friend, Carter managed to convince him they needed _some_ information before rushing into a situation they knew nothing about. Rationally, O'Neill understood this, but it didn't make it any easier to accept.

So it was with surprise that they discovered the house they traced the call to was as innocuous as it first appeared. The same could be said of its occupants, where deep background checks revealed absolutely nothing sinister about them.

"Sir, this doesn't make any sense. Why would Daniel be calling from the home of a couple of retirees?" Carter asked, perplexed at this turn of events.

"That could just be a cover," O'Neill said, though his expression remained uncertain.

"I've been through every channel and contacted every source I could think of, none of them reported anything unusual with these people."

While they mulled over this, Teal'c stepped in with a question he had wanted to ask since this begun. "O'Neill, what did Daniel Jackson say to you?"

O'Neill shrugged and ran a hand through his hair. "He said he called the wrong number." At their looks, he added defensively, "Hey, for all we know, it could be some sort of code!"

Teal'c and Carter exchanged a look. Teal'c raised a brow as was customary when he was puzzled. "What code would that be?"

"How should I know? I barely understand half the things he says when he _isn't_ trying to be so damned mysterious."

Carter thought she detected a note of frustration rising in her CO's voice. The only reason she was not questioning her CO was the fact that she knew, truly knew, that he was not the type to let wishful thinking take the place of reality. Considering, at times, she had trouble following the reality as seen by Jack O'Neill. In this case, she knew his mind would not make Daniel up just because he wanted it to be him.

"There is only one way to find out how Daniel ended up with them, Sir."

"Carter, I like the way you think. Let's go meet these nice folks face to face."

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"Excuse me, ma'am. Could we have a moment of your time?" Carter asked, feeling for all the world like a bad salesman. The team decided to let her do the talking as, it was finally agreed, she was the least intimidating of the three.

The elderly woman who answered the door eyed the major and her companions for a moment, and then, apparently satisfied, she waved them inside.

The house was small, but brightly lit by the mid-morning sun through large bay windows on one side. A slightly older man who was seated inside looked to his wife questioningly.

"Would you like some coffee?" she asked as she gestured for them to sit on the sofa.

They shook their heads in the negative. The woman seemed about to offer them some other refreshment when O'Neill interrupted, the agreed on plan to let Carter ask the questions entirely forgotten. "We just need one thing, actually. Have you seen this man before?" He pulled out a picture of Daniel out of his breast pocket.

The couple exchanged a look, then turned their gazes speculatively on the team. A minute of silence went by as each weighed the other before the couple both seemed to reach the same decision.

"Is he in some sort of trouble?" the man asked.

"He was such a sweet boy," the woman said, a beat behind her husband.

"No, why do you say that?" Carter asked of the man, surprised.

It was the woman who answered. "He seemed like he was running from something. We didn't want to pry, he was so-"

"Sweet, yes. He always was a hit with the ladies," O'Neill said. "Where is he now?"

"He left early this morning, in quite a hurry." The couple exchanged another look, then the woman continued before Jack had a chance to ask the obvious, "He didn't say where."

O'Neill sighed, running a hand through his hair. He fancied he could feel another strand turning gray as they talked.

"Are you people his friends?"

"Indeed," Teal'c answered in his low rumble. "We have been trying to locate Daniel Jackson for some time now."

The couple looked startled. The man said, "Daniel Jackson? We must be talking about the wrong man then, he told us his name was Nathan."

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They left the couple's residence with more questions than answers. At least they could be fairly certain Daniel was okay. Names aside, it was too much of a coincidence for it not to be Daniel.

"Maybe he is going by an assumed name," Carter suggested.

"Why has he not contacted the SGC before now?" Teal'c questioned.

O'Neill frowned. "He still hasn't, actually. He called me, left a hell of a cryptic message after disappearing for _two_ _months, _and not even a 'hi, how's it going? Oh, I'm still alive, by the way.'"

Was it her imagination or did her CO sound peeved and a little hurt? "It may be that he is being followed and knew the line was not secure." Her brow furrowed slightly. "It could explain why he's going by Nathan. Maybe whoever is following Daniel hasn't figured out his connection to the SGC."

O'Neill brightened up at the possible explanation, but then his expression darkened. "And we might have just given him away by showing up."

"It was just a speculation, Sir."

"It all comes down to finding him. Any ideas?"

"We were told he appeared to have been traveling on his own for quite some time."

O'Neill raised a brow, unconsciously imitating his friend. "What's your point, T?"

"How far could he travel with no means of transportation and limited currency on hand?"

"Excellent! I knew I brought you along for a reason," he said, a plan already forming. "So let's assume--"

Carter coughed while Teal'c remained expressionless. O'Neill paused mid-sentence and rolled his eyes. "I _meant_ that your contributions, nay, your _very presence_, to the team is too invaluable to leave you behind," he said with exaggerated formality.

"So what about me, Sir?" Carter asked in a teasing tone. The fact that Daniel was alive and they were finally doing something constructive to bring him home lightened their mood of the previous months considerably.

"You look harmless and old people like you."

"Thank you, Sir," she said dryly.

"You're welcome. So, he must have somewhere in mind to head for and I'm betting it's the SGC. Do we try to follow or wait for him back at the base?"

Carter said, "He must have thought it worth the risk in contacting you, even though he's only a day away by ground transport. He might need our help."

O'Neill nodded in agreement. "Then lets go find him."

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It really was logical to see that the only means of getting anywhere on a limited budget in a somewhat timely fashion -all without proof of identity- would be via a bus. Carter was surprised that the Colonel was the one who thought of it first.

They spread out once they reached the terminals. Teal'c to question the tellers, Carter to see to the drivers and other employees, and O'Neill circled the crowd, hoping to see a familiar face.

"Sir!" yelled Carter from across the lobby, waving a piece of paper. O'Neill, along with quite a few other men, turned to her direction. She ducked her head, ignoring the curious looks, and made her way to O'Neill's side.

"Colonel," Carter said as she handed him a schedule. "If Daniel's really heading back home, there's only one way he could get there from here, via this route." She pointed to the relevant section on the paper. "There's a transfer at Fort Worth leaving at 1445 hours. We might be able to catch up with it if we leave now."

"Let's just make sure that we do, shall we? Go find Teal'c and see if you can arrange a plane for us," he said as he pulled his phone out. "I'll see if I can't keep that bus from leaving the station until we get there."


	10. Chapter 10

Thanks, once again, to **Rinne** for the beta-ing! Without whom this chapter would have been another bloody battlefield in the aftermath of butchered grammar and misused tenses.

And also thanks to all of my readers out there! Your reviews and input are _very_ much appreciated. I seem to come up short to **devianttart's** expectation :( No helicopter chases. I don't know how to fit that into the story -even if I knew how to write it! Although that would have been really cool. I have a rough outline of where this story is going, but any suggestions would be welcomed!

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The team arrived in time to hear the announcement informing the passengers of the delay in the bus' departure from the station, no doubt due to O'Neill and his call. Carter immediately headed for the bus in question as O'Neill and Teal'c walked through the crowds.

It wasn't long before Carter rejoined them. "Daniel's not with the other waiting passengers and the driver hasn't seen anyone matching his description."

O'Neill sighed. Perhaps they had jumped to conclusions. What if Daniel had found another way to get home? They could be losing whatever trail he left while they go off on this wild goose chase.

"O'Neill," Teal'c said, his voice brimming with as much emotion as either of his two companions had ever heard before.

He turned to the direction his friend was facing, and his breath hitched in his throat as he saw what caught Teal'c's attention. Daniel was seated on one of the benches on the far side of the station's lobby, hunched over with glasses in one hand and pinching the bridge of his nose as if to stave off a headache. For one heart stopping moment, O'Neill stood frozen at the sight of the man he hadn't seen for the past two months. And, to be honest with himself, never thought to see again. Last night he was ready to accept that his friend wouldn't be returning, the thought of which hurt him all the more as the guilt ate at him.

Carter placed a hesitant hand on O'Neill's arm, bringing him back to focus. He nodded to his 2IC, although he never took his eyes off the oblivious figure of their friend. Feeling strangely euphoric and apprehensive at the same time, O'Neill lead the way. He broke through the crowd as if they did not exist, which earned him and his companions a few muttered curses.

O'Neill did not know what he could possibly say once they reached Daniel, who still hadn't looked up from his hunched position. He could summon no words that seemed adequate to convey exactly how he felt. Anger, frustration, fear, and the overwhelming relief hindered his effort in coming up with anything suitable for this situation. He hoped, at least, to avoid the embarrassing moment they both experienced in the 'gate room at Daniel's return from apparent death aboard Apophis' ship a few years ago.

They were halfway across the lobby when Daniel finally glanced up, glasses in place once again. He and O'Neill made eye contact, and Jack realized he didn't need to know what to say for Daniel to understand what was going through his mind, what he was thinking now. Daniel could read him like a book and he himself had long ago learned all of Daniel's nuances and expressions by heart. So it was with surprise that instead of the familiar warmth Jack was expecting, he saw fear in those eyes. Surprise turned to bewilderment as his friend got up and headed _away_ from them.

"Carter," O'Neill remarked calmly as they sped up to keep up with the archaeologist. "What's Daniel doing?"

"He's... trying to get away from us, Sir," she replied, incredulous.

"Right. Spread out. Search for hostiles in the area." It was the only explanation he could come up with to explain Daniel's behavior.

His team followed his order without question, disappearing into the crowd with purposeful strides. O'Neill's eyes never strayed from Daniel's retreating form as he tried to keep up without drawing attention. _Ah, the hell with it,_ he thought as he broke into a run.

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Amery could not believe his luck.

"What do you _mean_ SG-1 is there?" he asked icily. Amery's voice, though quiet, came through clearly on the headset of his agent.

"Exactly what I said, sir. I was trailing the target as instructed when they appeared."

Amery had spent the past weeks in tracking down his escapee and just when they found him, had a plan in place to get him back, _they _coincidentally showed up.

He could not allow Daniel Jackson to reunite with his teammates. He would not chance being exposed, even at the expense of the project the doctor was brought in for in the first place. "Take him down. Now."

"Yes, sir."

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Nathan walked fast. His hope was that he would blend in with the crowd as he tried to distance himself from his pursuers. He might have forgone that and just ran had he remembered the single-mindedness of Jack O'Neill, especially when it concerned his friends. Given that he knew none of this, he continued to weave his way through the people as inconspicuously as possible. He made it out the main entrance doors before he felt the vice-like grip on his arm, halting him completely.

"Daniel?"

Nathan stared at the man who stopped him, startled to see fear and concern etched on his face instead of the expected triumphant grin favored by Amery's goons.

Not in any of the possible scenarios supplied by his mind could he have predicted what happened next. Without warning, Nathan found himself wrapped in the other man's arms and squeezed till his breath caught. He inanely wondered if this was some kind of new torture technique that involved asphyxiation.

He was quickly released, however, as the older man seemed to come to his senses and realized how public the area was.

Nathan was too stunned to do anything but stare. "So... what's up?" the silver-haired man asked, sounding casual.

"Um," Nathan gaped. "What was that?"

"Oh, you know. Happens when your friend comes back from the dead." The older man's eyes grew soft and Nathan thought his voice was on the edge of wavering when he asked, "Seriously, are you okay?"

The tone the man used suddenly reminded Nathan of where he had heard it before. "You were the one I called. Last night."

"Yes. And it actually would have been _helpful_ if you had given me something to work with," he said, still not picking up the subtle _wrongness_ of his friend's behavior.

Nathan didn't know what to say to that. Obviously this man knew him, and he had since ruled out that the man posed a danger to himself. Not since the impromptu hug anyway. Plus, he obviously was concerned over Nathan's well being.

Nathan decided on the straightforward approach and asked, "Who _are_ you?"

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O'Neill's grin fell and his stomach fell with it. He was about to ask a few questions of his own when he caught sight of Teal'c. Daniel followed his gaze but didn't comment, instead he dragged O'Neill's focus back on him.

"What happened to me?" Daniel's voice was filled with a desperate hope for Jack to supply an answer to this, and all other as yet unasked, question.

O'Neill shook his head, not in answer to Daniel, but to indicate that now was not the time. He had seen the look on Teal'c's face and it filled him with misgiving. O'Neill searched the crowds and spotted Carter heading toward Teal'c's position with the same look on her face: grim and determined. Unable to see the threat his team saw from his vantage point, he took hold of Daniel's arm again to try to drag him away from such an open space. Daniel, of course, resisted.

"_Daniel_. No arguing!"

"O'Neill!" shouted Teal'c, followed closely by Carter's, "Colonel!"

Realizing that his teammates would give away their position like that only when they were in immediate danger, a danger that neither of them could stop in time, he grabbed Daniel and brought them both to the ground.

"Crap," O'Neill muttered as he felt the unmistakable sting of a bullet grazing his arm. He didn't hear a shot being fired, but the people surrounding them apparently did as some started screaming and all of them scrambled to get away.

He stayed on top of Daniel for another moment, shielding the younger man from other possible threats. Daniel pushed him off.

"Stay down!" O'Neill hissed. Daniel nodded, his eyes wide in alarm when he saw blood darkening O'Neill's sleeve. O'Neill ignored it to search for his teammates, and saw Teal'c had a man pinned under his powerful figure. Carter was making her way to them at a jog, dodging the frightened people that inadvertently got in her way.

"Sir? You okay?" she asked when she was near enough to be heard.

"Fine, Carter," he said, dismissing his wound. "Was he the only one?" O'Neill nodded in Teal'c's direction as he stood up. Daniel slowly followed suit.

"He seems to be working alone. At least, he was the only one we could spot. Whoever else might have been with him must have gotten away by now," Carter said, apology in her voice.

O'Neill shook his head, knowing it would be impossible to track anyone in this chaos. "Let's hope he was alone. But let's find somewhere safer to talk, just in case."

Carter nodded, then ignored his suggestion as she brushed past the colonel to give a fierce hug to Daniel, squeezing him just as hard as O'Neill had. Daniel coughed.

O'Neill waited, knowing she needed this. When she finally backed away, he caught her eyes. "Go help Teal'c and notify the general of what happened, see if he can get someone down here to deal with this mess."

Carter nodded, puzzled to hear weariness in his voice instead of elation in finally finding Daniel.

"We need to get Daniel back to Frasier."

Carter turned a worried gaze to Daniel, checking him out for injuries. "Carter," O'Neill interrupted her, "go. I'll explain once we get out of here."

She nodded again, finally noticing that Daniel had remained uncharacteristically silent throughout the whole exchange. "Yes, sir."

The two men watched her go. Daniel, seemingly lost in thought, started at the touch on his elbow.

"Come on," O'Neill said quietly. He searched Daniel's eyes for any signs of recognition, but saw only confusion and bewilderment. Fear once again crept up his spine as he wondered just what the hell happened to his friend in the past two months.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: **A little plug for savestargatesg1. Please visit their site to learn more on how you can save our favorite show.

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Carter reached Teal'c as he was hauling the half-senseless man off the ground.

"Has he said anything yet?" she asked.

"He has been uncooperative," Teal'c growled out.

She nodded distractedly as her attention diverted over to the two men she had left moments before. The colonel was talking softly to Daniel, who seemed more lost than ever.

"There's something wrong with Daniel," she said quietly, a dull fear in her voice.

Teal'c followed her gaze, silently watching his two friends across the distance while he kept a tight grip on the assailant. He did not ask her to elaborate, knowing she would have done so if she knew more.

"I need to call General Hammond. We'll need a secured transport to bring this man back with us," she said. "And find someone to deal with what happened. I don't think the colonel would be willing to stay here another minute if he can help it." She did not need to add that neither would she or Teal'c. Their concerns laid with Daniel.

"Indeed." Teal'c could see the flashing lights heralding the arrival of the police and other emergency services. O'Neill never was one who had the patience needed to clear up 'incidences', let alone when it involved Daniel.

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Jack, with gentle prompts and a guiding hand at the elbow, led Daniel to a small office he secured from one of the security guards so that they could talk. He was confident that his teammates would take care of whatever needed to be taken care of out there.

Jack closed the door, shutting out the chaos that was going on outside. He turned to watch Daniel, who was looking back at him uneasily. Jack had never seen his friend direct that look at him before. It was unnerving.

"You want to sit down?" Jack asked.

Daniel nodded and sat. Silence ensued.

Finally, when Jack figured the younger man wouldn't be volunteering anything on his own, he said, "Daniel--."

Daniel interrupted. "Why do you keep calling me that?"

Jack frowned. "Because that's your name?"

Daniel shook his head, not in denial, but in confusion.

"You really don't know me?"

Another shake of the head. Jack sighed, thinking they might as well start afresh. "Okay. I'm Jack O'Neill. We work together and, strangely, happen to be really good friends. Now, can you tell me what you _do_ know?"

"I _know_ I have never met you before," he said. There was, however, doubt in his voice.

"You don't sound too sure."

Daniel said with frustration, "There are gaps. And... some parts of my life are..." The man sighed deeply, as if he couldn't summon the right words to finish that sentence. So he started over. "It doesn't feel like I _lived_ the life I remember, and when I tried to recall any sort of details to certain events, it all falls apart," he finished bleakly.

Jack didn't know what he could say to that, so he remained silent.

"Everything from before I started on the project is so vague. Dream-like, but it wasn't. I know the things I went through really did happen."

"Whoa, back up. What project?"

Daniel, whom Jack thought was just beginning to open up, seemed to withdraw from him almost immediately. "I was recruited to do a translation for someone."

"Who?" Jack asked, knowing this line of questioning was, for some reason, distancing his friend. But he knew this was important.

"He called himself Chris Amery," Daniel said.

"What were you translating?"

"I--" Daniel stopped, eyes narrowing. "How do I know this isn't some sort of trick to extract information from me?"

"_What_?" Jack stared at him, exasperated. Daniel's face was displaying an expression he knew only too well. He was giving Jack the stubborn 'you're not going to get anything out of me' look.

_Nice to know _some_ things don't change_, Jack thought as he pointed to his arm. "Does this look like a trick to you? Because it sure as hell hurts like it's real," Jack said.

Daniel blinked in surprise, as he seemed to have forgotten Jack's injury until now. He winced sympathetically and said, "Thanks, by the way."

"For what?" Jack asked, still irked at being accused of trickery. The pain from his arm didn't help his mood. Nor Daniel's apparent quasi-amnesic condition.

"For that." Daniel nodded to the bloody wound. "I'm pretty sure that that was meant for me."

"Yeah, well. You'd have done the same," Jack replied, sounding nonchalant.

Daniel raised a brow. "Yeah?"

Jack debated whether or not to tell him about the first trip to Abydos in which Daniel did take the bullet, so to speak, for him. But he dismissed the idea; it would only bring up more issues and complicate matters.

Daniel continued before Jack could find a proper response. He said, "You should probably get that looked at."

"I've had worse." Which was true, and he would rather not interrupt the progress he had made with his friend so far. "Look, seeing as how I've saved your life and all, do you think you can trust me now?" It pained Jack to have to ask Daniel for trust.

Daniel gazed at Jack for a moment, his eyes searching Jack's. Then, seemingly satisfied, he nodded. "I was told about the project around two months ago..."

Jack listened and tried not to interrupt the story. There were several instances where he couldn't help himself and he asked a few specific questions, mostly in regards to the people Daniel saw, the building he found himself in, and the tablet he was working on.

A knock sounded at the door. Both men turned toward it as it opened. A blond head poked through. "Colonel?"

"What is it, Major?"

"The men General Hammond sent will be here in approximately ten minutes. He has also arranged for a prisoner escort," Carter said, surprising Jack. He hadn't realized he and Daniel had been at it for over an hour.

Carter's gaze shifted from Jack to Daniel, who looked back at her without recognition. "Sir?" she asked, her voice soft.

Jack understood her question and his eyes flickered over to Daniel for a second before settling back on his 2IC. Jack shook his head imperceptibly, he hadn't figured out what was going on yet.

Sam looked crestfallen, but restrained herself from further questions. Their Q&A session would have to wait until they got back to the base. She gave one last lingering look at Daniel before withdrawing.

"Um," Daniel said. Jack raised a brow at him. "You're all in the military?"

"That's right."

"And we worked together."

"Right again." Jack wondered if this was going somewhere.

"Oh."

"Oh?"

"I just didn't figure I'm the type to... you know," Daniel trailed off and waved his hand vaguely before resuming, "be a part of this."

"What, the armed forces?"

Daniel nodded. Jack blinked a couple of times before answering, "You betcha, Captain Jackson. Let's get out of here. The general's waiting."

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Sam didn't know whether to laugh or be exasperated with the colonel. "Sir, why did you do that? You're liable to only make him more confused."

O'Neill shrugged helplessly. "I couldn't help myself."

"Sir," Sam admonished, frowning at him.

"How often does an opportunity like that come up? You can't blame a guy for trying to lighten the mood a little."

"At what point do you plan to let Daniel Jackson know that he is, in fact, not part of the United States Air Force?" Teal'c asked. He was giving O'Neill a hard look.

"All in good time."

"Colonel," Sam said, trying not to sound like she was scolding. She was pretty sure it was generally frowned upon.

Before Jack could say anything in return, General Hammond entered the briefing room. The team had only arrived on base ten minutes before and had been requested to report to the general immediately. They were reluctant to leave Daniel so soon, but there was little they could have done except hover around the infirmary as Janet examined him. Plus, there was the fact that one usually should not ignore an order by a general, no matter how sympathetic he appeared.

Hammond waved his subordinates to resume their seats. Once everyone was situated he asked, "How is Dr. Jackson?"

"He's fine, Sir. Aside from the fact that apparently his whole life is a lie," O'Neill said, deadpan. He, along with Carter and Teal'c, had questioned Daniel extensively about what he did remember during their trip back. They had been careful with their questioning so as not to appear too aggressive, and he had been responsive to their concern and obvious affection in their manners and voice.

Sam elaborated, "What the colonel means is that Daniel has a completely different set of memories from what in actuality happened. It's surprisingly extensive, going all the way back to his childhood."

"However, there are discrepancies in the false memories," Teal'c added. "Daniel Jackson himself had begun to question their validity before we found him."

Hammond looked at his people in surprise, though very little could shock him nowadays. "Is there any way to reverse this?"

Sam said, "I'm afraid we will have to wait for Dr. Frasier's assessment before we can make any assumptions, sir. As of right now, he doesn't even remember any of us or the SGC."

"Let's keep it that way for now. He's restricted to the infirmary and his quarters unless he is accompanied by one of you or an SF." Hammond, seeing the looks on SG-1, added, "At least until we can find out more about what happened. He's to be treated like any of our guests who hasn't been cleared yet."

The team didn't raise any more protests so Hammond continued, "Do we know _why_ this was done to Dr. Jackson?"

"No, sir. But I suggest we look someone by the name of Chris Amery up," O'Neill said. "It was the only name Daniel could come up with. There was also some woman named Emily, but no last name."

"What about the man Teal'c caught?"

"Hasn't said one word, but we're looking into it," O'Neill said.

"Very well, Colonel. Your team will head up this investigation. I need not remind you of the potential security breach created with Dr. Jackson's disappearance and the condition in which he was found."

O'Neill nodded. They understood the seriousness of the situation, but there was definitely something else they deemed more important on their minds. Sam waited almost impatiently to see if there was more, but the general said, "Dismissed."

They got up and were out of the room in record time.


	12. Chapter 12

While O'Neill and Teal'c made their way to Daniel, Sam hung back so she could talk to Janet privately. As much as she wanted to be with the rest of her team, she needed to put her personal feelings aside in order to find out more about Daniel's condition. An envious part of her felt this was as much her CO's or Teal'c's job as hers, but no one could fault the colonel for being there for Daniel and matters such as these wasn't exactly in Teal'c's area of expertise. Not that this was hers either, but the colonel relied on her and Daniel for all things remotely scientific, even if it was not in their specific fields. This would just be another such instance.

In a sense, she was trapped by O'Neill's expectations of her.

Janet, after giving the colonel and Teal'c 'the look', relinquished her position by Daniel to walk over to Sam. They exchanged a brief smile by way of greeting before jumping straight into the matter at hand.

"Did you find anything yet?" Sam asked.

Janet shook her head then glanced over her shoulder at the trio. "Everything appears normal. Preliminary tests shows that he _is _Daniel Jackson –you never can be too careful around here. CT and MRI scans proved that there were no anomalies or damage to his brain. His EEG readings are normal. Initial blood works also tells us he's fine. For all intents and purposes, he's healthy and whole."

"Except that his memories of us are gone."

"Except for that. And the fact that he has somehow acquired a new set to replace them."

"Is there even a hint that he recognized anyone, anything, around here?"

"None. And he is not displaying any of the classic signs of amnesia. If that was the case, I might be more optimistic in the eventual recovery of his memories. As it is, we don't know if the new ones have permanently wiped out the originals," Janet said, her voice somber.

"You mean there might not be anything we can do."

"I don't know where to even begin, Sam."

They lapsed into silence. A minute later, Sam felt a hand on her arm. "We should be happy that we got him back at all." Janet smiled. "Go. I'll inform the general of my findings."

Sam smiled back. Still, she lingered at the door for a moment. She wanted to enjoy the fact that they were all back together, even for just one minute, before the worries and problems came crashing back onto her again.

* * *

Daniel was sitting on the edge of the infirmary bed when he saw Jack and Teal'c headed for him. He was wondering if he should remain seated or stand when Jack waved him down and hopped on the bed opposite Daniel. 

He was having a hard time adjusting to being called Daniel. He was having a hard time with everything, period. These people, strangers, acted and talked like they knew him. And he didn't miss the looks of disappointment or uneasiness when he didn't reciprocate the feelings of familiarity they showed toward him.

Daniel had already told them as much as he could, or wanted to, during their brief trip to Cheyenne Mountain. They didn't press for more, and for that he was grateful. However, it was almost painful to watch Jack try to fill in the awkward silence with his attempts at small talks. Teal'c, whose name Daniel found to be quite unique, didn't help matters as he appeared rather bemused with Jack trying to initiate a conversation essentially about nothing.

He couldn't help but smile as Jack became more and more irate when Teal'c would only give monosyllabic answers to the decidedly one-sided conversation.

"Hey guys," Sam said as she joined the group, thus saving the day. "Hope I'm not interrupting."

"You are not, Major Carter." If it was possible, Teal'c appeared relieved.

"Janet said you're good to go, Daniel. How about we go grab some lunch?" Sam asked.

"It's still lunch time?" asked Jack as he looked at his watch.

"Actually, it's been a rather long day..." Daniel trailed off, hoping they'd catch the hint.

Jack nodded his understanding. "Yeah, you're right. You probably want some place quiet. Teal'c, why don't you show Daniel his quarters."

Daniel smiled his appreciation, which was short-lived as Jack continued, "Carter and I will bring the food down."

* * *

Teal'c was certain Daniel Jackson had meant he wanted to be alone. All the same, O'Neill had managed to override that assumption, dismissed Daniel's attempt to explain, and not-quite coerced Major Carter to go along with it. All done with apparent innocence and without eliciting an outright protest from anyone on the team. A feat he was still puzzling over as he himself had wished to withdraw for the evening to reflect on the situation.

Silence reigned as they made their way to Daniel's newly assigned quarters. Teal'c was content to let Daniel mull over all that he had learned today. Unlike O'Neill, he did not feel the need to fill the quietude with idle conversations; he found it to be a distraction and unnecessary.

"This room has been temporarily assigned to you," Teal'c said once they arrived. "You are not to leave it without an escort. A guard will be posted outside these doors should you need anything."

Daniel raised a brow at that but did not question the rule. "Thank you."

Teal'c inclined his head. He shut the door after them. Daniel gave the room a quick glance over before focusing his attention on him.

Daniel said the first thing to pop into his head as he faced Teal'c. "So. Um, 'Teal'c' is a strange name."

"Not among my people."

Daniel's interest immediately peaked. "What _is_ your people? If you don't mind my asking."

"I do." Teal'c would not lie to his friend, nor would he knowingly disobey General Hammond's order to not reveal anything related to the Stargate Program to the younger man.

"Oh. Okay." Daniel seemed taken aback. He tried again. "How did we meet?"

"I can not say."

Daniel, not knowing what to make of this man's reluctance in answering his questions, forged on. "So what exactly do we do here?"

"I regret that I can not divulge that information at this time."

"Why not?" Daniel asked, a hint of impatience entering his voice.

Teal'c looked Daniel in the eyes before answering, "You must understand that it is not my wish to withhold information from you, my friend. However, it is both in your and this facility's best interest that, for the moment, your knowledge of this place remain limited."

Daniel did not look happy, but he seemed to accept Teal'c's sincere words. He paced around the room, giving passing glances to the sparse furniture and fixtures around the place.

"Can you at least tell me what's going on here? What happened to me?"

"I would if I knew, Daniel Jackson. It had been our hope that you would be the one to tell us."

"Sorry to disappoint." Daniel started pacing around the room. "Well, I've told you guys everything _I_ know. I think it's only fair for you to reciprocate."

Teal'c nodded. He decided to be as truthful as possible. "You disappeared two months ago, while on leave."

"I was missing for two months?"

"You were presumed dead."

"Dead?"

Teal'c nodded. "Evidence found at the scene of the accident led to that conclusion."

"I was in an accident?"

Teal'c gave his friend a look. "Repeating my words will not make any of it less true."

"I'm sorry," Daniel said contritely. "Go on."

"At the time, we did not know it was a ploy used by your kidnappers to discourage us from searching for you. However, that did not stop O'Neill." Teal'c paused briefly, his eyes seeking out Daniel's. "He never gave up on you."

Daniel, not knowing what to say, gave him an awkward smile. He was saved from having to respond by the arrival of Jack and Sam, each bearing a loaded tray of commissary food.

"So," Jack said, "what were you guys talking about?"

"Nothing." Quickly changing the subject, Daniel asked, "So what are we having?"

"Chef's surprise."

"What is it?"

"A surprise."

Daniel looked to the other two, but they refused to look back.


End file.
